Elenando
by MrsChurch
Summary: SG1 is trapped with no DHD and a Gate that won't dial out on the world of the Hidden, neither the Goa'uld nor the Tokra know where it is. They make a life for themselves, only to find that it is threatened by a distant evil. Jack/Sam, Daniel/?. No slash.
1. Chapter 1: P4C:385

Elenando

Chapter 1

_Alignment: SG-1=Immediately following SG-1/303 (Fair Game) , LotR=15 years before Frodo leaves the Shire._

_Translation: elen=star, ando=gate, perianath=hobbits, eldar=elves, naugrim=dwarves. The Jaffa call the elves Uld, the dwarves Naurg, and the hobbits Half-breeds._

_Summary: SG-1 comes through the Gate atop one of the peaks of the Misty Mountains north of Rivendell. The DHD looks intact, but in reality is not functional. They're stuck. They climb down the mountain and settle at the mouth of the River Hoarwell at the foot of the Misty Mountains. They build a house and a farm with a little help from home in the way of seeds and hunting gear. But as their new world begins to fall into shadow, the former soldiers will take up their weapons once again to stand against the Dark One who threatens their new lives._

_Notes: This starts out a little slow, focusing more on the survival of the team and the building of their new lives, but eventually, they end up in Rivendell, just in time to join the Fellowship._

* * *

**Chapter 1: P4C-385**

SG-1 left Earth ready for cold weather, as the Gate on P4C-385 was located at the top of a mountain, and the area was encased in snow and ice. Jack said, "Why did we come here, again?"

Sam grinned behind her snow mask. "Because these mountains are rich in trinium and there aren't any apparent human populations for hundreds of miles, so any mining operation won't interfere with them. General Hammond wanted us to check out the area and make sure the UAV didn't miss anything."

"Ah."

"You know, sir, we did talk about this in the briefing."

"I know," he said, irritated.

Sam just grinned again and saw to the MALP, which contained their supplies, as well as the equipment they would need for their two-week expedition, including a small core drill for taking samples, hopefully of trinium ore.

They got camp set up, along with the drill and then split up. Daniel wanted to check the surrounding area for human presence. He argued, "Since there is no evidence of a continuous or intermittent Goa'uld presence, it would probably be best if people here never even knew we were visiting."

Jack nodded. "All right. I'll come with you. Carter, you and Teal'c stay with the camp. We'll be beck by dark."

"Jack, I don't think that's enough time to—"

"We've got two weeks, Danny, and until we know more about this place, I don't want to wander off too far. We've got time, so let's just be careful."

* * *

It was a beautiful world, seemingly full of virgin forests and uninhabited prairies beyond the mountains. By the numbers of small birds and animals chasing each other through the trees, it was also spring. Daniel looked carefully during the admittedly short trip, but he found no signs that any human had been in the area for a very long time. From their position on the mountain, he could even see out onto the plains, and there were no tell-tale wisps of smoke, nor fences, nor stands of sawn-off stumps that would indicate logging. No humans lived anywhere near this place, and that comforted Daniel's inner anthropologist. He would have hated to begin a mining operation here, only to have the locals come asking why they were destroying their mountains, or worse, the home of their gods.

Twelve hours later, Jack and Daniel returned. They were just in time for their first scheduled check-in, so Daniel went to dial the Gate, while Jack told Sam what they had found, or rather, what they hadn't found. But then Daniel got the surprise of his life. He pressed the first symbol in the address for Earth and _nothing happened_! He hit it with more force, and still nothing. He tried several others, but all with the same result. "Guys? We've got a problem. The DHD won't activate."

Sam opened the maintenance panel on the pedestal and discovered why. All of the crystals were missing, leaving the device an empty shell. She spotted two sets of carved script on the side of it. "Daniel, what do you make of these?"

He knelt down so he could have a better look. "Well, this one I don't recognize at all but the other one is written Goa'uld. 'I have arrived on this, the world of the Hidden, and I find here no escape. The Hidden will remain hidden.'"

Jack looked at Teal'c. "That mean anything to you?"

The big Jaffa nodded. "It does. The Hidden World is a planet that the Goa'uld have never been able to conquer, simply because they cannot find it. The system has an uncommon number of planets, thirty four, I believe, but one of them was hidden by the builders of the Stargates."

As one, Sam asked how and Daniel asked why.

"How is not known, else the Goa'uld would have discovered a way to come here. The builders left several races of people here that they wanted to protect from all who might harm them; the Uld, the Naurg and a race simply called Half-breeds."

Jack wasn't interested in the history. "Why don't we just dial out by hand?"

Sam had a ready answer. "Because the Gate is frozen, sir. In these kinds of temperatures, the residual charge from dialing in gets bled off as heat. Normally that's not a problem because of the DHD, but in this case sir—well, it means we're stuck here."

No one said anything for a moment. It was a fear they'd all had at one point or another, that they would land somewhere and not be able to get home. And now it had become their new reality. Jack came out of his stupor first. "All right. When we don't check in, Hammond will dial us and we can inform him of the situation. Then we need to decide how we're going to handle this. If this is going to be home, do we just find a quiet place to build a house and stay away from other people? Or do we go find those human villages to the southwest? All of you should think about it, and we'll make a decision tomorrow."

The others agreed, and went to their tents for the night. None of them got to sleep quickly, the revelation of the day plaguing them. They were never going home.

* * *

First thing in the morning, the members of SG-1 were wakened by the Gate opening and Hammond's voice coming over the radios. "Come in, SG-1, come in!"

Jack rolled over and grabbed his walkie, still groggy from sleep. "Here, General."

"Where the hell have you been, Colonel? You've missed two check-ins."

"Yeah. We've had a bit of trouble." Jack sat up, his back complaining as it usually did that he had slept on the ground. "The DHD's busted, and we can't dial out by hand."

"Can it be repaired?"

Jack looked to Sam. The others had all come to the flap of Jack's tent to participate in the conversation. Sam shook her head and grabbed her own radio. "No, sir. The whole interior of the DHD was removed. The Stargate's workings are integral to the structure of the outer ring, so it works. You can send things here, but there's no way to dial out. And before you ask, the cold here keeps the Gate from keeping it's residual charge, which is why we can't dial out manually."

A pause floated out between the Stargates. "All right. We'll try and contact the Tok'ra to come and get you."

Teal'c spoke into his own radio. "This may not be possible General Hammond. This world was hidden in some unknown manner by the builders of the Stargates. The System Lords have long looked for it, and none has ever succeeded. They know the system, but they still cannot find the planet which holds the Stargate. It is doubtful that the Tok'ra would have any greater success."

"Are you telling me that there is no possibility of your returning to Earth?"

Jack sighed. "Not that we can see, General. I don't like it, but that's what it looks like."

Another long pause came through the Gate. "What are you planning to do?"

"We don't know yet." Jack thought about it for a moment. "Call us back at 13:00, General. We should have an answer for you by then."

* * *

SG-1 sat around their fire after Hammond signed off, all deep in thought. What was the best course of action? Did they want to travel from the Gate and find the nearest human village? Or should they just find the nearest non-mountainous arable land and settle down?

Daniel spoke first. "I think we should stay in the area. I'd rather not lose contact with earth if I can help it."

Sam nodded. "I agree. It'll be a lot easier to get supplies from earth, not to mention being able to contact the people we care about." Her father was obviously on her mind.

Jack turned to Teal'c. "What about you, T?"

"I concur with Major Carter and DanielJackson, Colonel O'Niell. If any of Earth's allies are able to find a way to reach this world, they will search the area around the Gate first."

Jack nodded once. "Alright. I agree. So we need to start thinking about supplies. Start making lists, and don't forget, we'll have to take anything you order from the mountain on our backs."

Daniel said, "Do we want to go as modern as possible or do we want to work with technology that's maintainable with little to no help from home?" The others looked at him strangely. "Well, I know I don't really want to have to come up this mountain more than a couple of times a year, and I don't think we could lug a generator down there very easily, not to mention the lack of fuel."

Sam looked at Jack. "He's right, sir. I'm not really sure how tall this mountain is, but judging by the permafrost, it's quite a way down, and by extension, up."

Jack nodded and grimaced. "How primitive are we talking here?"

As everyone seemed to be deferring to Daniel, he shrugged. "Nothing that requires a constant source of power, like electric lamps, computers, refrigerators, that sort of thing, and nothing that needs gas. You could probably get your Gameboy™ and a six-month supply of batteries if you wanted. Maybe some emergency flash lights. But other than that, I'd drop to the late nineteenth century on everything but medical supplies. Obviously you'll want to get some extra ammunition for the guns we have here, but I would save them in case of an emergency, not use them for hunting. I have several laminated horn bows between my office and my apartment that we could use, but I'd want fiberglass arrows and razor hunting heads for them. Then of course, there's farming, cooking, clothing. There's plenty of things we need to get, and I'd recommend we ask for a cart with some good tires on it so that we can take down as much as possible in one trip."

"Alright. Everyone keep that in mind. Make those lists."


	2. Chapter 2: Descent

Elenando

Chapter 2

Descent

_Notes: I'm playing with the nature of Arda a bit. I want it to seem like an accidentally colonized world, even though Papa Tolkien wrote it as a primitive Earth. This makes more sense to the SG universe, so I'm exercising a bit of artistic license. Also, when I mention Daniel's wife, I tend to use the movie spelling. I think it's prettier._

* * *

It was a week before SG-1 left the top of the mountain. They used the time deciding what to ask for from Earth and packing the two carts Hammond sent as tightly with those supplies as possible. They had decided to remain near the Stargate, but they couldn't live on the mountain forever. They'd be tied to the Gate as their only source of nourishment or supplies, and a drain to the SGC's resources, which were better spent fighting the Goa'uld and exploring the galaxy. The best way to make their way on their own would be to settle down on some unoccupied land and farm it, hunting in the mountains, raising crops and goats, fishing in the river, and building a home for the four of them to live in.

They asked for a lot of agricultural items, like bulbs, seeds and tools, because those things would be essential to their survival. Also for their survival were MREs and more clothes than they had brought with them. Because of their needs in starting a whole new life, they had decided to make two trips the first time. The second load would include chicken, turkey and duck eggs that would hatch to give them a ready source of meat and eggs, as well as a small flock of dairy goats for milk, cheese, and butter. Other items for cooking, hunting, and daily living were part of both loads. So were important books and information packets about the lifestyle they were embarking on, like "The Backyard Homestead"(1), the "Little House" books(2), and "The Traditional Bowyer's Bible", volumes 1-3(3), among many others. Daniel asked for some notebooks and a supply of cheap pens.

They were lucky. It was spring, so they had the entire growing season for the crops they would have to plant, and they wouldn't have to worry about any of the animals freezing to death before they could build shelters for them. But none of them were kidding themselves that this was going to be easy. They weren't farmers or ranchers. Jack knew how to catch fish (as well as how to fish, which he still insisted were two different things), but that was the extent of his hunting knowledge, at least for hunting animals.

Some of the animals they saw were obviously native, and some were just as obviously Earth transplants. There were deer amongst the trees, as well as something resembling a kangaroo with horns. There were oak and beech, as well as trees with golden bark that had never been seen in a Terrestrial forest. The grass was grass, and they couldn't tell either way.

It took them two days to descend to the valley, where a small creek began to cut it's way through the forest. They made camp there, and took stock. For now, all they could see were forests, and that wasn't what they needed. They needed farmland, as well as a source of fresh water. Sam tested the water of the creek, and found it was clean of anything she could test for. "It's clean enough to drink, sir."

Jack nodded, then sighed. "That's good. I don't know how well we're going to do out here. This place could have any kind of monsters that aren't Goa'uld. But it's good to know we have a fighting chance."

Daniel was staring into the fire, which glinted off of his glasses. "You ever think about this, Jack? About being trapped on an alien planet?"

The older man shook his head. "Not really. I certainly didn't think I'd be retiring this soon, especially not to farm and grow my own food. Fishing, maybe." (AN: "100 Days" had not happened before this story.)

"I'll never find Sha'uri now, I guess. The only plans I ever had for my future revolved around her. We were going to have a family, children. Kasuf was looking at harnessing the river that runs south of the desert to irrigate crops. They'll never mine naquadah again, that's for sure." He sighed. "But I'll never see any of them again."

"Yeah." Jack had already lost everyone else. He just had his team.

But Sam nodded. "Dad and Mark were just starting to put their relationship back together, thanks to Selmak. Now I won't get to be a part of that, and I'll never see them or my nieces again."

Teal'c said, "Nor will I see my wife or son. But it is better, I think, not to dwell too long on these thoughts."

They all agreed, but it would not be so easy to stop thinking about the loved ones they were losing, especially in the middle of the night when they were staring into a campfire and trying to get some sleep.

* * *

The next morning, they packed up their camp and continued to follow the creek, hoping that it didn't peter out on them. By midday, that hope was proved out, as the creek began widening into a river. Jack took several fish out of that river for lunch, which improved everyone's spirits dramatically.

Toward evening, Daniel and Teal'c set off together with Daniel's laminated horn bows and a supply of fiberglass arrows. Daniel had learned to use a bow on Abydos, where sneaking up on food animals was virtually impossible if you couldn't put distance between yourself and the prey. Teal'c had learned to use many different kinds of weapons in his years under Master Bra'tac, not just the weapons of the Jaffa. Many primitive peoples used different kinds of bows and arrows as weapons, and Bra'tac believed in being prepared. They brought back several chicken-sized birds, and something that looked like a big guinea pig, enough meat for that night and the next two days. They also ate some of the fresh produce that had been sent with their supplies, knowing that they wouldn't stay healthy on a protein-only diet.

The river continued to widen, but rarely deepened beyond a couple of feet, because the terrain didn't change much. Their way continued to be easy, until they finally reached the edge of the forest. There, the greater amount of available sunlight due to the thinning of the trees caused the undergrowth to thicken into an almost impenetrable mass. They could have pushed through it on their own, but they were pushing the supply carts, and there was no way they were getting those through the natural hedge. So they broke out the machetes.

It took half a day to cut a path through the growth. Jack, Sam and Daniel all had to take frequent breaks, and even Teal'c, who had much more strength and endurance than they did, was forced to take a couple. But once it was done, and they walked through the corridor they had cut, a breathtaking sight awaited them. The sun was just getting low on the horizon, its amber light playing in a gently waving sea of long grass and sunflowers and glancing off the icy caps of the other mountains in the chain. The river they had been following emerged from the forest and wound its way through the prairie, and large trees sprung up sporadically along its banks. Jack's simple whispered "Woah," echoed the others' feelings.

After a moment, Sam asked, "Do you want me to test the soil, sir?" The soil test kit was going to be one of the biggest indicators of where they would settle down, because they had to find land that was good for their crops.

Jack nodded, and she went to work. "The rest of us'll get camp set up for the night."

Over dinner, Sam talked about the results of the tests. "Everything looked good. The soil is slightly acidic, which a lot of vegetables grow well in, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus are normal, and there's enough sand mixed into the clay that if we're able to plow under the native grass, we'll end up with a good loam by next year. This year's plantings may have a little trouble getting started, though."

Daniel said, "Everything's going to be easier next year than this year, but we have to get there, first. We have to learn how to do everything, and if we screw it up, this winter could kill us."

Jack gave Daniel an annoyed look. "Way to be positive, Danny."

"Sorry."

"The point is," Sam continued, "that we've got the best possible place to start. It took us four days to get here, down hill. It'll probably take a week to go the other way, and it'll take longer to get back down, because you're going to have those goats with you. But still, having the Stargate only a week away is an advantage. This soil is excellent for any crop we'll want to plant, so long as we take care of it. We have fresh water and fish in the river, and good hunting in the woods, as well as timber for a house and a barn. We're not going to find something better."

"So you think this is it? We settle here?"

"Yeah. This is the best we could possibly have hoped for."

* * *

That night, while Daniel was on watch, he stared at the stars. It was the most impressive nightscape he had ever seen, which Daniel thought was probably due to the unusual number of planets in the system. Several of the bright stars had visible color differences, giving the effect of a scattering of multicolored jewels on a blanket of black velvet.

Would Earth's sun, or Abydos's, be one of those stars? Probably not. He didn't think they were in the same spacial neighborhood. He'd made a habit, on Earth, of looking up at Abydos's sun at night, still promising Kasuf that he would bring Sha'uri home to him. But now that was impossible, and Daniel knew it. Sighing at the injustice of the universe at large, he sent out one last thought in that general direction. _I'm sorry._ Sitting on the boulder that was the highest non-arboreal point on the plain, he hung his head and wept for his lost wife.

* * *

_Bibliography_

_The Backyard Homestead_, edited by Carleen Madigan, Storey Publishing, 2009. (I know that this date doesn't mesh with the time of the series, but it's such a valuable book I couldn't leave it out of Daniel's library.)

_Little House on the Prairie_ series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Harper Collins, et. al., various dates, _The Little House Cookbook_, by Barbara M. Walker, Harper Collins, 1979.

_The Traditional Bowyer's Bible, _Volumes 1-3, by Bois d'Arc Press, 1992, 1993, 1994.


	3. Chapter 3: The Little House

**Elenando**

**Chapter 3**

**The Little house**

_Notes:Thanks to ruth hammond for your reviews. This chapter owes quite a bit to Laura Ingalls Wilder, who described the process of building a log house very well, even from the point of view of a young child, and so the chapter is named both for the subject of it, but also in honor of her work. That said, this is not a "Little House" crossover, but merely a borrowing of techniques that have been proven by the trials of America's pioneers._

* * *

Included in the last load of supplies were the oxen, the goats, the brood hens, the fertile eggs, and four six-month-old hounds, a male Bluetick hound, a male German shepherd, a female Rottweiler, and a female Staffordshire terrier, all rescued from Colorado Springs' animal shelter. Jack insisted that mutts made better dogs, and Sam agreed that a diverse gene pool was a good idea. All four dogs had been trained to hunt by the same man, and so they all knew the same commands and knew each other as pack-mates. All of them growled at Teal'c once, but soon allowed him to touch them, and by the time they were back at the bottom, they were happy with his presence.

Once they were back on the land they had chosen, they got started building the animal shelters. These were more important than the house because they had their military camping gear, and it was more than sufficient for the short term. They built a chicken house from loose branches and rope. So did they build the turkey house and the dog house. The ducks would nest with the chickens. With three thin, tall logs, they built the goat stable, and in building it they learned the lessons they would need to build the house.

In all their tasks, the four acted as a team, so together they planned their house, cut the timbers for it, from the path to the mountain, pulled the stumps for firewood and furniture, and hauled all of it back to their camp. The design was simple, out of necessity; a large single room that would have a door, two or three windows and a hearth and chimney. It would contain four log-post beds, a stump table and four stump chairs, at least until they were able to start making real furniture.

Before they began the actual construction, they started plowing the land for crops. This was not a matter of choice, but of survival in the coming winter. They weren't planting cash crops, but those things they needed for a decent life, if a provincial one. Some was set aside for grains, which would become flour, cereals and beer. Some was set aside for vegetables, some for small fruits, some for the vineyard and some for the orchard. They planted a future fence of pinyon pine, a stand of sugar maples and a small field of tea. They also planted cotton and flax for spinning and weaving, trades they would be able to make use of during the long winter months.

Finally, with the crops sewn and the birds hatching, they started construction on the house. Jack and Daniel dug the two trenches for the sills, the biggest, strongest logs that they had cut. These were rolled into the trenches, and then all four started notching the sills for the next two logs to sit into. Then the next two logs, also big, stout ones, were rolled onto the sills and notched where they would sit over the sills, and then the four pairs of notches were aligned, completing the foundation of the house. They continued in the same way until the house was five logs high. Then they took two of the logs and sawed them in half lengthwise, using the two-man saw, and used them to roll the logs up the walls and into place. This was for safety. No one needed one of the big logs to fall on them, or to risk a broken limb.

When the walls were ten feet high, three days after starting construction, they stopped and rested, deciding that the old custom of taking one day out of the week to rest was a good one. Jack spent the day fishing, actually catching a few along the way, though not intentionally. It was a further indication that the spot was not frequented by humans, as the fish were not wary of even half-hearted efforts. Daniel walked around with his sketch pad, documenting the plants and animals in sure strokes with his fountain pen, an antique given to him by one of his foster parents when he had mentioned his interest in antiquities. He had a recipe for ink, but he would have to find the right raw materials to produce it. Sam played around with the dogs, and after Jack was done fishing, she went swimming in the river. That night, she stayed up for a while, making a basic chart of constellations. Teal'c was not used to leisure time, but he did need to kelnorim, and took this opportunity to do so. The next day they went back to work.

Jack built a door frame, a hearth frame and two window frames, while Teal'c, Sam and Daniel cut the holes for those things out of the house logs. The frames would provide support, and ensure that the weight of the logs on the holes didn't collapse the house. Then, after installing those frames, they made the beam structure of the roof with thin logs, about as big around as a human leg, and longer than any of the logs used to construct the walls. One they laid like the wall logs into notches, but in the middle of the two walls, forming a cross-brace. Each "rib" was made by mitering the ends of two logs and using whittled pegs and the auger to secure them to a short vertical log that rested on the cross-brace. Then, when all the "ribs" were attached, they filled the triangular ends with vertical logs, which they nailed to the walls and to the supports.

They started cutting boards next, inch thick slabs with the bark removed. These were for the roof, and they nailed them on one at a time, with one sixteen-penny nail in each support beam until both sides of the roof were covered and the small space at the top had been given a cap of two boards nailed together in a V.

Finally, Teal'c and Daniel started halving logs for the floor, and Jack and Sam started building the hearth out of river stones and river clay. The floor logs had to be cut perfectly straight, then smoothed out with sandpaper, and the sod had to be dug up for the logs to sit on so that they would remain straight when they were laid down. This made a smooth straight floor for the cabin. As for the hearth, the stones and clay had to be hauled up from the riverbed first. Then Jack and Sam laid down clay and stones for the floor of the hearth, and up the walls, building the hearth and chimney. This took them the rest of the week, but they had enough stone and clay that they didn't have to worry about the height of the chimney.

The last things were the door and the windows. The door they made of squared-off four-by-fours, joined by two cross pieces, and hung with strong brass hinges and bolts from Earth. It had a bar latch on the inside that would keep out even the most determined predatory animal, and a strap and hook on the outside to keep insects out during the day. The windows had also been imported from Earth, as glass was something they didn't want to have to make.

The following week, they built the barn for the oxen, using the same techniques, but leaving out the floor, windows and hearth. Inside it they built a stable for the bull and cow on one end and a feed storage area on the other. They also chinked the cracks between the logs of both buildings, finishing them for good.

With their home built, SG-1 moved into the house and out of their tents, but they still had to use the sleeping bags until they could get the beds made. On their first night in the house, his back creaking a lot, Jack said, "Why did we go this primitive again?"

"Because we didn't want to be a drain to the Stargate program when we can't contribute anything to it, sir, and so we can't have a lot of unsustainable tech." answered Sam.

Jack shook his head. "You don't have to call me that anymore, you know. We resigned." They'd actually been declared dead to the public record so that their families could get their pensions, but they had signed the resignation papers just in case Senator Kinsey or some other officious know-it-all tried to make trouble for General Hammond. The papers had been sent through the Gate, they'd signed them, then held them up to the MALP's camera so that the signatures could be recorded. Of course, only Sam and Jack'd had to do that, since the others were, technically, civilians. It also meant that they were no longer in the military, no longer under the regulation of the Air Force.

There was nothing stopping them from having a romantic relationship now.

Sam knew it, but it was still a very new idea. "I'm not used to it yet." She sighed. She had never allowed herself to explore her feelings for Jack, because he was her CO. Now that wouldn't be a problem, but again, she hadn't gotten used to that idea, and she didn't want to rush into anything. After all, if they screwed it up they might lose their friendship and camaraderie.

Of course, Jack knew it would take time, for both of them. "Hey, don't worry about it. Just remember, I'm your friend first."

* * *

The growing season lasted a good 200 days, before the first frost signaled harvest time. They had gotten lucky, and they knew it, but it was the luck they had needed. They had a full root cellar, seeds for the next year, and butter, cheese, and preserved venison taking up space along side the fruits and vegetables. The barn was full of feed for oxen, goats and fowl. The dog food was a mix of meat, grain vegetables and fat, kind of a stew that was boiled down and dried into loose kibble and stored in a bin in the barn. And the two females would need that mix more than the males, because they were both pregnant. Jack expected puppies by Christmastime.

Sam was out with Teal'c one day, picking the seed-heads of the wild sunflowers that had grown there before they arrived to see if there were any edible seeds. Teal'c spotted movement in the trees just a moment before the person creating it came out of the woods. He was tall, with long raven hair, and had pointed ears. And then he proved to be a twin, the other stepping out right beside him. Sam said the only thing that came to her mind. "And now for a little something different."

* * *

_Ta da! Reviews are welcome as always. The next chapter we'll be meeting the elves. Just in case some of you have maps, the Stargate is at the top of one of the Ettenmoors, and SG-1's farm, which I'm going to name in the next chapter, is between those mountains and the Hoarwell, which is the river they're using as their southern boundary and as their source of water, fish and clay. And in case you haven't figured it out, yes, they're meeting Elladan and Elrohir. _


	4. Chapter 4: Sanctuary

**Elenando**  
Sanctuary

_Notes:This chapter owes a lot to HarbingerLady. Some things are yes, and others no, but she made me think, and realize I was moving too fast. Thankfully, the characters have a lot to tell the _gwanún_, and much of that 200 days will be told them during the visit. As for why Elladan and Elrohir are visiting, I will explain almost immediately, so just sit down and have a read._

* * *

For three seasons, most of a year, they had been stranded on the Hidden World, and they had never had contact with people, human or otherwise. Now, when the leaves were turning and the former Stargate team were thinking about the coming winter, two humanoid alien men had come to visit from an apparantly near-by city. Twins, they were named Elladan and Elrohir, and they called themselves elves. They had come out of the forest and into the sunflower fields on the same mission as Sam and Teal'c had gone to them for; the seeds of the giant sunflowers, as they explained on the way to the house. Elladan said, "Our father uses the oil from the seeds in many of his medicines."

Sam asked, "Your father's a doctor?"

"Doctor?"

"A physician, a healer?"

"Ah, yes. And what of your folk? Why have you come so far to get the seeds? And on foot, no less!"

"Oh, it's not that far. We've settled just next to the river. In fact, we're almost there."

The two elves looked at one another. Elrohir said, "Humans are living on the Hoarwell?"

Before Sam could answer, they emerged from the sunflowers into the new wheat, a two-acre field of lush green grass that would go dormant over the winter, and then return in the spring, make grain, and be harvested in the summer. But right now it was an emerald stamp on a slowly browning world, and beyond it was the barn and the house. Harvested plants had been plowed under and awaited the next spring's planting. The entire area was full of the sounds of poultry, dogs, goats and oxen.

Elrohir closed his jaw with an audible snap. Elladan asked, "How long have you been here?"

With no little pride in her voice for their accomplishments, Sam answered him. "Just since early spring. We've done a lot since then." Realizing she had shocked the elf men, she said, "Why don't you come on up to the house? Jack and Daniel should have finished dinner by now, and you can rest before heading back to your city. You know, we didn't have any idea that there was a city close by when we settled here."

"Few humans realize that it exists at all. Fewer still are so comfortable with our race as you seem to be."

Sam shrugged. "We've met a lot of different kinds of people. We'll talk about that later. I'm much more interested in dinner right now."

Teal'c chose that moment to make a comment. "Captain* Carter, are you certain you wish to eat a meal prepared by Colonel O'Niell?"

She grinned. "He's gotten a lot better, Teal'c."

He raised an eyebrow in an eloquent fashion. "He _could_ only get better, for he could not get any worse."

Sam chuckled, then shouted, "Jack! We're home and we've brought company!"

The mention of company brought Jack and Daniel both out of the house. Jack blinked, twice. Daniel had a little more poise. "Wow. Um, I think we made enough for two more. Would you like to share our evening meal?"

The twins nodded in unison. "That would be pleasant."

Jack finally managed to speak. "Welcome to Sanctuary."

* * *

Dinner was better than Teal'c's dire predictions would have led the elves to believe; venison stew and rice. But they were much less interested in the food than in the humans' story. Elrohir (Sam could only tell them apart because their clothes were not identical) asked, "So, where have you come from?"

Elladan said, "Yes, and why did you choose this place to settle?"

Daniel beat Jack to the punch, knowing that the former Colonel would have said something annoying and/or sarcastic. "We came down out of the mountains to the north, and because of how we arrived there, we can't return."

Annoyed, Jack threw in anyway. "Yeah, we accidentally bought a one-way ticket."

"What is keeping you?" asked Elrohir.

Sam answered him. "The device at the top of the mountain is supposed to allow travel both to and from, but on this end it was deliberately disabled, probably by the builders of the devices in ancient times." She sighed. "There is no way to repair it. We can receive packages from home, and that's how we got all the things we needed to survive and build a life here, but we can never go back ourselves."

The twins looked at one another. One of them said, "Elenando." The other nodded.

Daniel asked, "What does that mean?"

They looked thoughtful for a moment, then Elladan said, "You came from another world, did you not? One much like this one, but where the race of men were alone. You came here by the Elenando, the Gate Star, and were trapped."

Elrohir continued from his brother. "Then you spoke to your leaders, and they sent you supplies and beasts, knowing that you could never return to them."

Daniel was surprised. "You know about the Stargate?"

"Still it lingers in our oldest legends. Our ancient forbearers ensured that this world would remain hidden, both to protect its younger races, and to ensure that its one great darkness would never escape it, thereby giving all the races a chance to remove it, permanently."

"That time is coming fair soon, as the earth counts time. But as men count it? No one knows. All we know is that the Great Eye once again looks out upon the world on occasion. Mordor never sleeps."

All of the humans had sat up straighter. Jack asked, "Are we in danger here?"

"No, not yet."

Elladan shook his head. "Its time has not yet come, though we believe it is more active than many would prefer to think." Indeed, whargs and orcs still moved in the Mirkwood at times, and those times were coming closer and closer together. It was a dark sign of the movement of the Enemy.

Elrohir seemed eager to move on to a different subject, though. "Enough talk of coming dark times. There is yet enough time to discuss them. Much more interesting, I think, would be to talk about your people and your travels. Are all your women so outspoken as this one? I thought the race of men sought to both protect and suppress their women."

Sam grinned. "It used to be that way on Earth. But times have changed rapidly over the past hundred years or so, and women have gained the right to be equal to men. We can do all the same work as men, and be leaders over men and women together." She leaned close to them. "That doesn't bother you, does it?"

The elf shrugged. "If it works in your society, then of course not. I was only surprised."

Elladan asked, "What was your original purpose in coming here?"

Daniel said, "The mountains are rich in a certain mineral that is valuable to our people. We were supposed to do two things; first to make sure that the deposits were good enough for us to use, and second to make sure that we weren't going to disturb anyone with our mining. We've found that—ah—_primitive_ human cultures can take such mining badly, and we didn't want either to harm anyone or to invite retribution. The Stargates on other worlds have tended to be the center of the planet's religion, and it almost always complicates things."

"Hmm," Elladan murmured. "Is it because of the Serpent Bearers?"

Daniel nodded at the obvious reference to the Jaffa. "Yes. They and their leaders, who pose as gods."

"The false gods are called Goa'uld," said Teal'c. "I am what you have called a Serpent Bearer, but I defied the Goa'uld and until being trapped here, I have been fighting them ever since."

Elrohir and Elladan looked at one another. "The Serpent Bearers who came before all died. The serpent within left them, and they died within hours."

The four teammates were instantly alert. Sam asked hurriedly, "What happened to the symbiotes?" Were there Goa'uld on this world?

But the twins were quick to reassure them. "This world has evil enough in it without buying it from others," said Elladan.

Elrohir finished for his brother. "The serpents were beheaded, both head and body burned."

The humans relaxed visibly, and Teal'c as well. But Elladan and Elrohir were not so reassured. "What of the serpent within you? How long do you have before it leaves you?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow, inscrutable as ever. "It is very young. When I took this primta it was too young, and should not have been implanted for another year. So there are still twenty years before it will begin to seek a host, and if none are available, it will try to take me."

Elladan nodded, then sat backward on the chair he was seated in. "Perhaps in that time our father can find some type of recourse for you. But he would have to come here to do it. We have sworn that no evil will ever pass the boundaries of Imladris. No matter. What will be will be."

Elrohir changed the subject to happier things. "You have not yet had one winter in this place, but you seem to be doing very well. Will you and your beasts have enough to last the winter?"

Sam leaned back in her chair. "We planned our crops with that in mind. We don't want to head up the mountain during a blizzard because we ran out of something. Of course, we planned based on Earth's year length, and for a while we were worried that your year would be longer than ours, but so far it seems to be almost the same, maybe longer by a day or two. We should be fine. Really we got very lucky with this location. It's practically perfect for the kind of agriculture we needed and it's very protected by the northern mountains. That's why we named it Sanctuary."

"Did you plant food only?"

Daniel answered him. "No. We put in culinary and medicinal herbs, and a couple of fiber crops, as well. We planted cotton because I'm allergic to wool, and we thought about trying our hand with linen, so we planted flax, too. Of course, Sam wanted roses, and Jack had to have hops for his beer." He chuckled. "You know, none of us grew up farming. It's a good thing we had access to such good advice from back home, because if we'd just had to figure it out on our own, we'd have starved this winter, if not sooner."

"Yeah, not to mention trained oxen," said Jack sourly. "I still say that cow hates me."

Sam grinned at him. "Amelia's just allergic to b. s., Jack."

"Oh, is that why she tries to kick me every single time I try to milk her?"

Grinning as well, Daniel told the elfin twins, "That's why milking her is my job now. Jack handles Earheart instead."

Sam said, "Speaking of animals, how are your dogs doing, Teal'c?"

Pride shone on his face when talking about his hunters. "All have learned how to hunt by my side. Both females will soon give birth, so we have not gone out hunting for a time, but the preserved meat we have already is more than enough to sustain us through the winter."

They passed the evening in pleasant conversation, the gwanún avidly listening to the tales of the humans' first year on what was to them their new homeworld. They had not faced famine or pestilence, nor had the trolls that lived in the shaws to the south ventured northward to bother them. They had met and dealt with a pack of timber wolves, using Teal'c's staff weapon to drive them back. They always kept a watch at nights, a hold-over from their days as a military unit, and no predator had ever gotten the better of them.

Elladan asked, "You mentioned something called electricity?"

Sam nodded. "It's the same power as lightning, only smaller amounts and much more controlled. Back on Earth, they use it to run all kinds of things, from simple room lights to complicated and powerful thinking machines called computers and vehicles like cars and trucks." She stood at that time and went to a black chest that was kept in a corner of the room. She opened it and dug around until she found a small black metal cylinder with a bulbous end. This she twisted in place until a light shone out the end of it. "This is one of the simplest uses of electricity, to make light. We call these flashlights."

"Why do you not have more such objects, and why keep this one hidden?"

"This one and the other three that are in the chest are for emergencies. Really, we're trying to avoid using electrical things here, because we don't want to be beholden to Earth for too much, since we can't pay them back. They already send us certain chemicals that make life easier here, like salt, soda and lye. And they gave us all the things we needed to get started, like the animals and the seeds. Next spring, General Hammond said he'd be sending us some horses; a stallion and four mares, all of good riding breeds. He said they were our birthday presents for the next twenty years."

Jack looked at his watch, then said, "Well, it's getting late. I'd suggest we all turn in. I'll take first watch. Teal'c, come and relieve me at 02:00?"

"Of course, Colonel O'Niell."

To the elves Daniel said, "You're welcome to sleep in the floor here, or in the hay loft, whichever you'd prefer."

They chose the hayloft, having heard that humans snore.

* * *

The next morning, they said farewell to their guests, who headed back home. Sam watched them leave back through the sunflower field, along side Jack, who had just woke up from his night's sleep after watch. "Do you think that Mordor they were talking about will become a problem here?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I don't even know if they would tell us if it came."

Daniel came up on their conversation on his way to feeding the poultry and the goats. "You don't trust them?"

"Don't know them. And they don't know us, not really. I wouldn't be surprised if we found ourselves under a close watch."

* * *

_There you go, a good long chapter. For me, anyway. Reviews welcome!  
_


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